In love with a swan in love
Seeing the Bolshoi Ballet perform Swan Lake is one of the great things to do in life - you will not be disappointed
The torrential romanticism and quivering poignancy of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake makes it one of the most popular ballets of all time. The fusion of ongoing fame and audience expectations no doubt fire the challenge for a full-scale production to shun tawdry clichés and outdo earlier superlative performances. Certainly not for the faint-hearted. But the mere mention of the Bolshoi Ballet, the star-studded stable of some of the world's top dancers founded by Catherine the Great in 1776 and still defining the art of ballet, irons out any doubt.
More so when we're talking the Bolshoi A-List of soloists accompanied by the exalted State Academy Theatre of Classical Ballet of Russia and the President's Orchestra of Moscow. Numbering over a 100 dancers and musicians, it's definitely a case of the Russians coming over in full force and the hype surrounding "one of the most prestigious cultural and musical events to be organised in Malta this year" rightly points to the brilliance of a ballet company that has long stamped dance history with enchanting lyricism and stunning athleticism. A combo that Russian dancers have in their genes and which keeps alive the magic of ballets created under the Tsars, the Presidents of the Soviet Union and the Presidents following perestroika.
The leading Bolshoi soloists Anna Antonicheva, Yelena Andrienko, Vladimir Neporozhny, Sergei Filin and Mark Peretokin - who between them have danced all the key roles in classical and modern ballets - are set to dazzle with impossible to define grace and superb technique. Their inimitable style has audiences roar and leaves critics lost for sufficient praise.
But how did Swan Lake hook on people's imagination and become the stuff of legend since its debut 130 years ago?
Well, Tchaikovsky's symphonic music (a first for a ballet score) and use of leitmotif triggered off an immediately recognisable signature tune, though the ballet itself was initially met with hostility. Was it too sad? Too tragic? Vladimir Begichev and Vasily Geltser's libretto was inspired by a German myth that told of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse and is betrayed by Siegfried, the prince who first vows eternal love to lift the curse, but then falls for the treacherous Odile in league with her evil father, Von Rothbart, the very sorcerer who had kidnapped Odette.
That the ballet was produced with both a happy and a devastating ending created the controversial hotbed where legends are sown. Enter the famed choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov whose wizardry was showcased by Pierina Legnani's breathtakingly complex pirouettes and ceaseless turns, all on pointe - and the timeless masterpiece was born. Yet this was only the beginning. Years later, countless stories of the luminous Anna Pavlova gazing at swans for hours on end to inspire her dancing and demanding to be buried in her crystal white Odette costume wove another fabled layer. Prima ballerinas ever since must shine as Odette/Odile, vacillating between the world of light and the world of darkness to be declared a star of the highest order. The electrifying duel between Prince Siegfried and Von Rothbart further heightens the drama and adds to the demanding male roles.
Significantly, the upcoming performances at the Mediterranean Conference Centre are staging the ballet in three acts/four scenes - the adaptation that is shown in Russia as against the four acts/four scenes often presented elsewhere. For their hugely acclaimed production, Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilev, artistic directors of the State Academic Theatre of Classical Ballet have built on the choreographic flair of Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov as well as of Alexander Gorsky and Asaf Messerer. Meaning they have revived the Old Moscow Swan Lake, the almost forgotten version that was all the rage during the last years of Imperial Russia. They have also teamed up with the British production designer Tim Goodchild and costume director Kim Baker, a clear indicator of the first Russian-British production in the illustrious history of Russian ballet, which premiered in the summer of 1988 and is still having audiences clamouring for more.
• Swan Lake is being staged at the Mediterranean Conference Centre on April 20-23 at 7.30 p.m. Tickets may be obtained by phone on 2559 5750 or online: www.mcc.com.mt
More so when we're talking the Bolshoi A-List of soloists accompanied by the exalted State Academy Theatre of Classical Ballet of Russia and the President's Orchestra of Moscow. Numbering over a 100 dancers and musicians, it's definitely a case of the Russians coming over in full force and the hype surrounding "one of the most prestigious cultural and musical events to be organised in Malta this year" rightly points to the brilliance of a ballet company that has long stamped dance history with enchanting lyricism and stunning athleticism. A combo that Russian dancers have in their genes and which keeps alive the magic of ballets created under the Tsars, the Presidents of the Soviet Union and the Presidents following perestroika.
The leading Bolshoi soloists Anna Antonicheva, Yelena Andrienko, Vladimir Neporozhny, Sergei Filin and Mark Peretokin - who between them have danced all the key roles in classical and modern ballets - are set to dazzle with impossible to define grace and superb technique. Their inimitable style has audiences roar and leaves critics lost for sufficient praise.
But how did Swan Lake hook on people's imagination and become the stuff of legend since its debut 130 years ago?
Well, Tchaikovsky's symphonic music (a first for a ballet score) and use of leitmotif triggered off an immediately recognisable signature tune, though the ballet itself was initially met with hostility. Was it too sad? Too tragic? Vladimir Begichev and Vasily Geltser's libretto was inspired by a German myth that told of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse and is betrayed by Siegfried, the prince who first vows eternal love to lift the curse, but then falls for the treacherous Odile in league with her evil father, Von Rothbart, the very sorcerer who had kidnapped Odette.
That the ballet was produced with both a happy and a devastating ending created the controversial hotbed where legends are sown. Enter the famed choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov whose wizardry was showcased by Pierina Legnani's breathtakingly complex pirouettes and ceaseless turns, all on pointe - and the timeless masterpiece was born. Yet this was only the beginning. Years later, countless stories of the luminous Anna Pavlova gazing at swans for hours on end to inspire her dancing and demanding to be buried in her crystal white Odette costume wove another fabled layer. Prima ballerinas ever since must shine as Odette/Odile, vacillating between the world of light and the world of darkness to be declared a star of the highest order. The electrifying duel between Prince Siegfried and Von Rothbart further heightens the drama and adds to the demanding male roles.
Significantly, the upcoming performances at the Mediterranean Conference Centre are staging the ballet in three acts/four scenes - the adaptation that is shown in Russia as against the four acts/four scenes often presented elsewhere. For their hugely acclaimed production, Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilev, artistic directors of the State Academic Theatre of Classical Ballet have built on the choreographic flair of Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov as well as of Alexander Gorsky and Asaf Messerer. Meaning they have revived the Old Moscow Swan Lake, the almost forgotten version that was all the rage during the last years of Imperial Russia. They have also teamed up with the British production designer Tim Goodchild and costume director Kim Baker, a clear indicator of the first Russian-British production in the illustrious history of Russian ballet, which premiered in the summer of 1988 and is still having audiences clamouring for more.
• Swan Lake is being staged at the Mediterranean Conference Centre on April 20-23 at 7.30 p.m. Tickets may be obtained by phone on 2559 5750 or online: www.mcc.com.mt